U.S Homeland Security Contractor Hacked

U.S. Investigations Services (USIS), a company based in Falls Church in Virginia, has been the victim of what is said to be a state-sponsored cyber attack. USIS performs background check for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) among other. The attack probably involved the theft of personal information about DHS employees.

DHS said it had suspended all work with the company pending an investigation by the FBI. A “multi-agency cyber response team is working with the company to identify the scope of the intrusion,” DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said in a statement to Reuters.

“At this time, our forensic analysis has concluded that some DHS personnel may have been affected, and DHS has notified its entire workforce, out of an abundance of caution, to advise them to monitor their financial accounts for suspicious activity,” Peter Boogaard said, adding that employees whose data had likely been compromised would be informed.

Even though the government officials don’t believe that the breach has affected non-DHS employees, the Office of Personnel (OPM) Management also suspended the work with USIS. In a statement on the USIS website it reads, “We are working collaboratively with OPM and DHS to resolve this matter quickly and look forward to resuming service on all our contracts with them as soon as possible.” “We will support the authorities in the investigation and any prosecution of those determined to be responsible for this criminal attack”.

USIS is the biggest commercial provider of background investigations to the federal government, having over 5,700 employees and providing services in all U.S. states and territories as well as abroad.